Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Asked about the sex scandal that
forced him to resign as New York’s governor, Eliot Spitzer
speaks haltingly and looks like he just sat on a porcupine.

“It was very awkward,” said director Alex Gibney, whose
documentary “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer”
opens tomorrow in New York. “I was asking questions that made
him very uncomfortable. You can see it in the pauses and the
flicker in his eyes.”

Gibney, who won an Oscar for “Taxi to the Dark Side,”
interviewed Spitzer five times for a total of about eight hours.
The highlights can be seen in “Client 9,” a revealing
look at Spitzer’s career as a crusading prosecutor of white-collar criminals and his shocking downfall after being caught
using high-priced prostitutes. (The title refers to the
pseudonym he was given by federal investigators in the case.)

I spoke to Gibney last week at Bloomberg’s New York
headquarters.

Warner: How did you convince Spitzer to talk to you?

Gibney: (Co-producer) Peter Elkind knew him from Princeton
and had written about him for Fortune magazine, so that
connection helped. But I also think he wanted his point of view
to be heard.

Mayflower Wiretap

Warner: Do you think Spitzer has come to terms with what he
did?

Gibney: I’m not sure. I think he still must wonder why he
did it. Of course, it’s not like he’s unique. Rich and powerful
men having sex with lots of women isn’t exactly a new thing.

Warner: Ashley Dupre was the prostitute who dominated the
headlines, but she only met with Spitzer once. Why was she
singled out?

Gibney: First of all, the arrangements for her meeting with
Spitzer at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington were caught on a
federal wiretap. Also, she didn’t mind the publicity. She became
the poster girl for Fox and the New York Post, who were
political opponents of Spitzer’s.

Warner: You tracked down his favorite call girl and spoke
to her. She didn’t want to appear on camera, so you used an
actress to speak her words. Why didn’t you just disguise her
face and her voice?

Using Actress

Gibney: We tried that, but found it was terribly distorting
and actually created more of a false picture. It turned her into
a weird monster and that’s not what she’s like. She’s really a
straight talker who doesn’t look or act at all like a
stereotypical hooker. So it seemed more truthful to use the
actress.

Warner: Spitzer’s enemies gloated over his downfall, didn’t
they?

Gibney: Heavy-hitters like Hank Greenberg and Ken Langone,
who were targeted by Spitzer when he was New York’s Attorney
General, wanted to dance on his grave. And Joe Bruno, the
majority leader of the state senate when Spitzer was governor,
laughed when he recalled watching news of the scandal break on
TV.

Warner: Do you think Spitzer had presidential ambitions?

Gibney: I do. I think the Republicans were scared of him
because he was one of the few Democrats who polled better among
men than women. He was a law-and-order liberal -- a liberal who
could punch.

Too Soft?

Warner: I’m sure people who hate Spitzer will accuse you of
being too soft on him. What’s your response?

Gibney: I don’t know how much harder I could have been. I
found out so much about his private life and I showed how
belligerent and bullying he could be. I do point out some of the
good things he did, but that doesn’t excuse his bad behavior.

Warner: Spitzer now has a show on CNN where he speaks out
on issues. Do you think he has a future in public life?

Gibney: Only if he can convince people to trust him again.
He’s got to admit that he’s not infallible and that he still has
something important to say. I’d say the jury on that is still
out.

(Rick Warner is the movie critic for Muse, the arts and
leisure section of Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his
own.)